a blog by Enya

Let’s Talk Books: Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

I read this duology ages ago and due unprecedented phenomena, I’m dropping the review today – just before I am due to post a ‘May Wrap-Up.’

Like all my reviews, I am going to comment on the covers. I love them. The Stargirl book covers are epitomes of the concept of minimalism. I’m kind of miffed from the color palette because it’s not very easy on the eyes but other than that, I think the cover was great. They took the opportunity for something as bland as a book title like Stargirl, and exploited it in the best way. B+ cover though. *fist pumps for effect*

And can I just say that the book gave me a lot to think about as to how my life went on in high school? I mean, the story is about a girl who calls herself Stargirl – who thrives on her individuality, and for a time, people loved her for it, but as soon as uncertainty rises, society – or in this setting, middle school, doesn’t think twice to immediately kill the fire as if they are cavemen fighting a controlled flame from a cooking stove (to the friends who read this review, can you draw this scene for me? I think it bodes well as a cartoon for an editorial someday). The thing about this is, that there are some who aren’t like the masses but at the same time, are not like Stargirl either and this is depicted in the story as a character named Leo – who is of course the voice of the whole story.

Leo, like most people in contemporary novels and in real life situations, can and will fall in love with sparks of life like Stargirl but will still fall prey to the mundane and (certain expletives used here) society. The book captured that brilliantly, and I hope to find more stories like this someday. Except maybe Love, Stargirl – which is the sequel to Stargirl told by Stargirl after the events of the first book, because I did not enjoy is as much as I thought I would in Stargirl.